This invention relates to speakers, and more particularly, to high fidelity portable speakers.
Speakers are devices that translate electronic signals into sound. While a variety of speakers have been around for a long time, recent developments in the portability of music in digital form have caused an increase in the demand for systems that can reproduce the music with high-fidelity (i.e., without distortion or noise). In particular, there is an increasing demand for speakers and systems that can be used with portable music players such as MP3 players or iPods.
However, there are a number of key limitations to contemporary portable speakers and systems. In the speaker industry, there is a well-known tradeoff between speaker size and frequency response. In practice the reduction of the enclosure volume of a speaker results in a corresponding reduction in its low frequency response and efficiency, regardless of the bass reinforcement methodology employed (ports, passive radiators, band-pass). The smallest of portable speakers have very poor low frequency content in their sound and often have audibly high harmonic distortion and cabinet buzzing. Larger portable speakers in a carrying bag may be portable but they are large. The best solution for high quality sound is to use a larger cabinet. However, as the cabinet size is increased, the speakers become less portable.
What is needed is a speaker system that has the acoustic advantages of a large cabinet based system, yet is very small in size so that it is highly portable. The present invention optimizes both of these features. The following detailed description and accompanying drawings provide a better understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention.